A Second Chance
by FishieGurl
Summary: After four year old Bella's mother was murdered, she is placed in the protective custody of the Cullens. But can they keep her safe from the past that haunts her? Cullen's are Vamps.


**I don't own anything, and I'm not making any money from this. **

**Before you read, I want everyone to keep in mind that this story will most probably be told from Bella's POV for the foreseeable future. And Bella is four when this starts out, and while I believe that Bella was probably a very smart child I want to keep her age appropriate as well. So I hope I came up with a good mix.**

Grown-ups always think your dumber then you actually are. Even at the young age of four I knew that. What just because I wasn't talking automatically means I'm an idiot?

I hadn't felt like talking much lately, and when I say much I mean at all. It had been just over a week since it happened. My mommy. Why did he have to hurt her? Why did he have to do that? He was maybe the reason I wasn't talking.

I remember his face vividly, the dark red eyes. The pale skin. The way his finger rests in front of his lips. _Quiet, _It says.

Tears are leaking out of my eyes. I try to suck them back in but more come out instead. It's cold out and the wind is hitting my face, cooling the warm tears instantly.

The snow is crunchy under my feet. The pastor is talking. His words aren't affecting me, in fact most of them I don't even hear. Instead I do my best to keep my eyes averted from the coffin, the hole, the flowers, the guests, everything. Instead I look at the trees, their bare branches, and the snow, its crunchiness under my feet. I reach down and pick some up. Patting it into a snowball like my mommy showed me, I hold it. The snow sticks to my mittens.

"Put that down. This is your mothers funeral, not time to play around." She swats it out of my hands. The tears are leaking out again.

We were at my aunties house again. I never liked it here. It smells like mothballs and cats. Me and Mommy never really came here before. I don't think Mommy liked Auntie very much either. But I was staying here now. At least for a little while.

"Don't get to comfortable." That's what my auntie had said to me, cause I wasn't going to stay long.

She was talking to a man now, in the next room, I could hear them shouting. I hated shouting. Mommy said never to raise voices or hands in anger. Daddy never listened to mommy.

I cover my ears with my hands, and focus on my legs. The don't reach the floor yet, so I swing them back and forth, back and forth. My tights are dirty from the crunchy snow mixed with wet mud. Specks of dark brown litter the white tights. I pull my black dress down to cover the spots. They're still yelling.

I hate yelling.

Somebody broke something. I can hear the glass shattering and then a third voice enter the mix. He's not yelling, but his voice commands respect and attention. His words are muffled but I can hear that the shouting has stopped.

But the footsteps get louder, three pairs of them and I can hear them coming closer to me.

"Bella, this man is here to take you to a foster family to live with. I've packed your things and you're to go. No fuss no muss. Do you understand me?" I look down, tears brimming in my eyes. "Answer me, you stupid child." The man was saying something but I ignored him. I nodded my head slowly.

She nodded her head back to me. "Here." In her hand was a cup of chocolate milk. "Drink this, all of it. It will help you sleep."

I did and she was right.

The next time I woke up I was being carried. My eyes were too tired to open, but I listened. It was quiet, except for the soft murmurs of the man and woman. The man's skin was warm against my forehead. And he smelled good. Like cologne and the liquid you use to wash clothes. I let my mind shut off, and sleep consumed me.

I dreamed bad dreams. The man was back except this time he was coming after me. His red eyes were dripping blood and he smiled mean. And I was running but my legs weren't fast enough. And he caught me.

My body jolted from sleep. I was still in the mans arms. We were walking.

"You ok there kiddo?" I lifted my head from the man's shoulder and looked at his face for the first time. He had dark curly hair, long and tied back into a ponytail. His skin was tanner then mine. Like he'd been at the beach. His face was soft, and his eyes a warm brown. "Don't think we ever introduced ourselves, now did we? The names Matt. And that girl over there is Anna." He said as he set me down on the ground.

"Hey sweet-pea." Anna said, taking my hand in hers. "See that house up there. That's were you'll be staying for awhile. I know it must be hard, moving around so much after losing your mom, but things will settle down." She crouched down next to me. "I can tell you're a fighter, and things seem tough now. But I know you'll be okay."

I swallowed hard and lifted my eyes away from her face. Instead I searched for the house. The house wasn't hard to find. It was big, and covered in snow. Light shown brightly through the large windows. It was a brick house, with lots of trees around it. On one of the trees I could barely make out the shape of a swing. Shadows of people reflected on the snow, I couldn't make out what they looked like except that there was more then two.

"Let's keep moving." I kept my hand around Anna's, and we followed behind Matt. It was bitterly cold out and I was wishing I had stayed in Matt's arms when we reached the driveway of the house.

The people must have been looking out for us because the door opened before we knocked. A man and a woman were there.

They were real pretty. The woman looked like she had come out of one of those magazines my mommy had in our bathroom at home. Her hair was brown like mine but not as dark and her skin was paler then mine. She had honey gold eyes that matched the man next to her. Unlike her though his hair was blonde like my best friend Angie's, except shorter because he was a boy. He was pale too.

"Hi Bella, I'm Esme and this is my husband Carlisle." She said as she ushered us into the house. It was nice and toasty with a fire going in the fireplace. My mommy had always wanted a fireplace. I bet Santa wished we had one at our house too.

I scanned the room in front of me. It was big, and open. I could make out the whole downstairs from where I was standing. The kitchen, the dining room, the living room, everything. The colors were soft browns, yellows, and off whites with the furniture to match. My Me-Ma had furniture like that. I was never allowed to sit on it. In fact I didn't see one place I could sit in the whole downstairs.

I licked my dry lips, and turned my head to scan the five other people who were in the room. They all looked like teenagers. All pale and all with the same eyes. But aside from that they all looked different. One girl was short like me, with dark spiky hair. She was bouncing up and down in her seat, holding the hand of the boy next to her. He had blonde air too, and sat formal like my Me-Ma used to. Back straight and shoulders back.

The other girl had long bright blonde hair. She was smiling at me when I caught her eye. I quickly turned my attention to the boy next to her. He was big, like really big. He had curly brown hair and a big smile. Just like the rest of him. My eyes turned toward the only other boy there. His hair reminded me of chestnuts and Christmas. I loved Christmas.

I think I liked this boy.

Shame flooded into my cheeks when I realized that Esme had been talking to me and I wasn't paying attention. Mommy always said that was rude.

"Bella, these are our children. She pointed to each one and said their names. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward. Each in turn had said hi. I still didn't feel like talking though.

"How about we go into the kitchen and make some dinner Bella. How does that sound. Esme took my hand in hers. It was cold and hard. It reminded me of my Mommies friends in Alaska. She looked at me like she was expecting something and when it didn't happen she led me into the kitchen. I could hear some of he others following us as well. I turned my head to see who it was Emmett, Rosalie and Edward.

"So I hear your not much into talking these days." Emmett said, it could have been a serious comment but he said it with a smile. "Anything we can do to change that?"

I watched him smile as he all but bounced around the kitchen. "Esme's a great cook, although she doesn't do it much."

"Oh Em, stop it." I liked Esme's voice, it was smooth like milk and honey.

Edward came around the corner, in each hand was a treat. A sugar treat I was only allowed to have if I ate all my dinner. Lifting me from under my armpits and plopping me onto the counter in one swift moment he asked if I liked sweets.

My body remained still as our eyes meant. He smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. It had been forever since I smiled, and I thought it would hurt. But it made the ball in my chest not ache so much.

"Which one?" In one hand was peanut something. Mommy said I was never allowed to eat peanut butter, or peanuts, or chestnuts, or anything with any nuts in them, on a count of I'm allergic. So I picked the treat in his other hand. A roll of cake and fruit filling.

I pointed to his right… no left hand. He smiled, "Is this the one you want?" My lips remained sealed, but I nodded my head.

He handed the sweet to me. I held it in my hands. I would eat it after dinner, like Mommy had taught me.

Thinking of my Mommy made me want to cry. I could feel traitorous tears brimming under my eyelids.

"Oh Honey, it's alright." I could feel Esme's cold arms reach around me.

"I'm sorry Bella I didn't mean to upset you." It was Edward his voice full of pain. "I'm sorry Esme, I can't read her." I think it was meant to be a whisper, but came out louder then it should have.

"It's like her mind is silent."

Tears were coming out quicker now, and fatter too. I want my mommy!

Esme scooped me into her arms. I wrapped my own around her and squeezed. Despite her hardness, there was something soft about Esme. Maybe it was the smoothness of her skin against my check or the way her hand rubbed my back. With her holding me I didn't feel so bad. The tears slowed down and my sniffles stopped.

I lifted my head off of her shoulder and looked at her face. She was smiling at me. She had a really pretty smile. Her cold hand reached up and wiped my wet face.

"Sometimes we all feel better after a good cry." With me still in her arms she walked over to where she was making a sandwich. I liked that she asked me if I liked everything before putting it on my sandwich.

Emmett was right, Esme was a good cook.

Before Matt and Anna left they came up to say goodbye. In Anna's hand was my stuffed triceratops, Max. I got him when I was three at a museum, and he was my favorite. His big blue eyes and green skin, and the big smile on his face. I loved him.

Jumping down from my stool, I ran over to Anna and all but yanked him out of her hand. I know it was rude, but I couldn't help it. He was my best friend.

I knew the smile on my face must have been really, really big because I haven't felt this happy since Christmas.

They both said their goodbyes to me, and walked out the door. I knew it was silly, 'cause I had only known them for a little bit but I was going to miss them. And while everyone looked nice here, I was still nervous.

"How about we go up stairs and get ready for bed." Ugh I hate going to bed! But I still let them lead me up the stairs, Rose, Alice and Esme.

"Now this will be your room Bella." Rose said as she opened the door. The room was so big. Bigger then me and my mommies whole apartment back home. It was painted in a soft purple and a soft green with a big bed and lots of toys. Even a TV!

I gasped. It was so pretty.

"We're glad you liked it. I was nervous about the colors." I think she was talking more to herself then to me. But then Rose turned back to me and said "And that over there is your bathroom."

Esme led me into the bathroom. It was decorated in frogs. I liked fake frogs, but real frogs gave me the creeps. They were cute frogs though; smiling on their lily pads and eating bugs.

The tub was really big, and really deep. Esme, started the water and plopped in a floating plastic frog. Something mommy did to measure the pools temperature.

"Which one do you like better?" It was bubble bath. One smelled like strawberries and one smelled like cotton candy. I pointed to the one with the strawberry. I loved strawberries.

I was glad Esme was here to help me with my hair, cause Mommy said I was still too little to take a bath by myself on a count of in case I drowned.

While I played with my bubbles Esme lathered my hair. Her fingers felt good massaging my scalp and when she rinsed she didn't get any soap in my eyes. She gave me a soapy washcloth so I could wash my own body. The soap smelled like strawberries too.

Once I was done she wrapped me in a big fluffy towel. The pajamas that sat on the sink weren't mine before, but Esme said they were a gift. They were flannel, and really soft with pink fluffy bunnies hopping around. Hop, hop, hop.

I couldn't help but yawn as Rosalie brushed my hair back. And again as Carlisle and Esme tucked me in. And once more as every other big person in the house said goodnight as well. Closing my eyes, I snuggled into Max and feel asleep.

**So what did you think? Any interest so far? Should I continue this or just stop now, and count my losses?**

**This eventually will be a Bella/Edward Romance Fic, but Bella is still young obviously so it won't happen anytime soon.**

**BTW incase it wasn't clear Cullen's are Vamps!. **

**So should I continue? Review and let me know!**

**PS. Sorry for any spelling/grammar issues. I thought I got them all. Sorry if I didn't!**


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